Catching Up On Life

Both blogging and practicing had to take a back seat yesterday while I got caught up on life. I’m not sure if others get as stressed as I do, but I hate dealing with paperwork – health insurance, car insurance, union dues, electric bills, phone bills, etc. Blech. But it actually ended up being quite a productive morning. A few more items on my to do list, but at least I made some serious progress.

I can often be an expert procrastinator – I can’t practice until my apartment is clean or I can’t return e-mails until I run, etc. But instead I finally sat down on the couch and started checking things off.

I did take a breakfast break for a delicious combination:

This cereal was on sale and I loved it. Maybe a little too much… I ended up eating two bowls of cereal with raisins and almond milk. (And more tea – I brought out my sugar cookie sleigh ride tea.)

I was definitely a bit too full at that point, but ultimately it turned out okay because lunch had to be super late and quick.

I rewarded myself for all that productivity by leaving time for a small cooking project. I’ve been meaning to make my own veggie burgers for quite a while and I had some open cannellini beans that needed to be used up soon.

I’ve been on a kick of looking through recipes on Emily’s blog: The Front Burner and found this one for vegan bean burgers.

I pulled out all the ingredients – with a couple of minor substitutions.

The recipe mentions you can try any kind of beans so I figured the cannellini could be used. I planned on mixing in a can of black beans, but apparently my pantry only includes multiple cans of pumpkin… I settled on my last can of garbanzo beans instead. Time to restock.

The recipe also called for pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and I knew that I had this tub of trail mix with all the almonds and dried cranberries already picked out… I did separated out the peanuts, but I figured a mix of pepitas and sunflower seeds couldn’t hurt.

I had most of the spices on hand, but I was out of onion powder and coriander. Luckily this everyday seasoning from Trader Joe’s included both (plus some salt and pepper) so I used that instead.

I think it’s definitely time for a food processor. I’m not sure what happened to mine in this summer’s move, but I would like to replace it. I just have to find more storage room… This time though I managed to use my immersion blender which mostly did the trick (other than spraying sunflower seeds across my kitchen.)

I loved Emily’s tip of wetting your hands before forming the patties – worked like a charm.

Post baking:

While the oven was hot I also roasted a head of cauliflower with lots of garam masala. I’m always amazed how much the cauliflower shrinks up in the oven.

After creating such exciting looking dishes I put them in tupperware to bring over to my parents. I figured I should share with my Dad (and Mom, although this is much more up my Dad’s ally) and I can eat while I’m over there.

After some more work I knew it was time for some activity. I made the mistake of thinking I could go without my ankle brace. Bad plan. I didn’t turn my ankle or anything, but it was more sore than usual and also I ended up getting a major shin splint – only on my left leg. I was thinking I must have done something funny with my gait to compensate for my ankle. Either way, it turned into a 10 minute run and a 20 minute walk. I’m so antsy to get back to my old activity level, this is very frustrating.

At that point I rushed to get ready and headed over to my parents’ house to teach.

I sadly did not leave enough time for lunch so I grabbed a quick PB&J on a sandwich thin and some cottage cheese.

Wednesdays are by far my most exhausting teaching days – and this second stage of my illness seems to be laryngitis which certainly makes teaching difficult. I did end early tonight though so I could head off to a rehearsal. I did leave myself a few minutes to pack a great dinner.

I started with a big handful of baby spinach.

Topped with the roasted cauliflower and bean burger.

I heated the whole thing in the microwave and wilted the spinach. I decided instead of eating in the car I would wait until I arrived at rehearsal and eat back stage. It’s no dining room table, but a step in the right direction…

I may have to repeat this meal soon. I was very happy with how the whole thing turned out.

I also packed myself a serving of almonds for rehearsal break, but ended up not eating them. Unfortunately I think this was a mistake because then when I got home at 11, I was hungry. I was hoping these two peppermint patties (a gift from a student) would satisfy my snacking urges, but I ended up eating more after that.

I don’t usually have such trouble with late night eating, but recently I’ve been struggling at night. I think I need to plan a bit better so I’m actually not hungry and also to work on recognizing the difference between actual hunger signals and other emotional cues.

All in all though I was pleased with my productive day. Speaking of… better get to work.

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